Blue Skies
by BallisticWeasel
Summary: AU, No demons/Hellmouth: A night on the town with her friends brings Willow face to face with beautiful stranger, who's face and silken voice she can't seem to get out of her mind
1. Chapter 1

IF ANYONE CAN HELP ME FIX THIS FORMATTING I'D BE VERY HAPPY. IT JUST LOOKS BAD AND UNREADABLE. IDK HOW TO WORK WITH THIS.

Hey hey hey, it's me. I'm not entirely sure how this fic is gonna turn out. Just as an FYI, I can't even begin to tell you how hard it was to actually get started writing it. I'm not easily motivated. I get some good ideas and then can't write them down.

Regardless, I hope the fic is alright, i've never done a multichap fic before and I have pacing problems so those are things I at least acknowledge even if I don't try to make them better. After a read I hope you can give me a couple tips maybe to make it better in the future, that would be cool. Hopefully I'll have a couple chapters written before I actually publish this so I have a buffer and can have some semblance of an update schedule (spoiler:probably won't happen) BUT I WILL TRY MY DAMNED HARDEST. Also will try to keep these notes pretty short in the future.

Since it's the first chapter this note is obviously long. Anyway, despite the plot of this fic I'm not turning into a song fic. There will be a couple lyrics now and then but not many. I'll put the song I'm imagining being sung at the end of each chapter if I think of it.

* * *

"Willow..."

"Willow."

"Willow get up right now, I mean it."

"Mmmm...five more minutes."

Buffy looked down at the red head clinging to her legs and using her thighs as a pillow in disbelief, growling and trying to push the girl off her.

"Come on Willow I've got a class to teach in an hour I have to go shower."

Willow didn't move, squeezing her best friend's legs tighter, mumbling something about kittens and pulling her legs up to curl around Buffy's feet, ensnaring the girl tighter in her sleepy grip. Buffy dropped her head against the arm of the couch they had fallen asleep on last night and groaned. She cast a furtive glance around the room looking for something to wake the other girl out of her dead sleep but came up short.

"This is ridiculous," the blonde girl muttered to herself. "If this is what I get no more late night monster movies for us, I happen to have a schedule to keep, Will."

The night before was...interesting. An impromptu dinner and movie get together with Xander and Anya to celebrate Xander's promotion at the construction company he worked at. Xander bought the pizza and brought the movies proudly proclaiming he was "payday man" while Anya pouted behind him about the loss of money and orgasms the night was heading towards.

Unfortunately for Buffy, the combination of Frog Fear and half a bottle of wine left Willow in her lap on the couch and dead to the world by morning.

"Dammit, Xander this is all your fault, I'm not gonna get a shower am I?" She winced slightly as the grip on her legs tightened once again. "What have you been eating, Willow? Jeeze, I run a martial arts studio why in the world can't I get you off me?"

Buffy brushed a strand of coppery hair off her friends face and smiled despite herself at how precious her friend looked sleeping. She slipped the lock behind Willow's ear and gently patted her head causing the lithe girl in her lap to loosen her hold and yawn sleepily.

"Are you kidding me right now, Willow!? I've been trying to get you off me for 10 minutes and a tap on the head wakes you up?"

Willow shrugged and gave her best smile to her angry friend, "Sorry, Buff, I can't control that stuff, I mean maybe I could if I really tried. I don't know though I don't think it works that way...I could try though? That could be kind of fun. But that's not the issue here, I should get off you now."

The red-head tried to extract herself from around Buffy's legs and with a concerned squeak ended up rolling off the couch and slamming into the floor. " Ow..."

Buffy's mouth hung open in shock before the site of Willow pouting on the floor with her arms and legs splayed in different directions set her off laughing.

"Oh my god, WILLOW! You look ridiculous! Oh god where's my phone I need a picture of this."she wheezed, clutching her stomach with tears leaking out of her eyes while she giggled uncontrollably on the couch.

Willow scowled, "It's really not that funny, Buff." Rubbing her head lightly she sat up and reached under the couch pulling out Buffy's phone. "Were you looking for this?" The grin on her face was mischievous at best, dangling the device in her friend's face.

The laughter stopped immediately, "Willow…" the warning tone was obvious, "that is my phone. Give it to me. Right. Now."

"Nope! You laughed at me, you can't have this now, you'll have to face facts and live your life without it." The phone was shoved into her bra and she stuck out her tongue "HA, what now?"

A dangerous glint appeared in Buffy's eye and Willow caught it just in time, skittering backwards across the floor barely escaping Buffy's pounce. Willow crawled away as quick as she could but wasn't quite fast enough to escape Buffy's trained speed, she shrieked when she felt fingers close around her ankle so she couldn't get away.

"Willow! Give me my phone back!"

"You'll have to take it from me!"

Never one to back down from a challenge Buffy lunged and landed on top of the other girl who grabbed her arms to try and keep her away. The blonde was obviously stronger and a with a well trained move wrestled her friend into a hold.

"Are you two serious right now? I thought I was the teenager here." Both of the girls on the floor froze and slowly turned their heads towards the staircase where Dawn was standing with her arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

Taking advantage of the situation Buffy shoved her hand down Willow's shirt, which elicited a squeak from the red-head and a shocked look from the youngest Summers sister, both of which were ignored in favor of celebrating. "HA! You thought I wouldn't do it didn't you? You were wrong, Will, your boobs don't scare me!"

Willow blinked rapidly as Buffy gloated over her victory and shared a look with Dawn. She coughed slightly, "That's...nice Buff but I think you've got a class to teach in like 20 minutes."

Buffy froze, eyes widening. "Oh crap." shooting a glance at the clock on the wall gulped and grabbed her keys off the table and fumbled to stuff her phone in her sweat pants, "Willow, you made me miss my shower and now I have to go to the gym in my pjs and change there." she glared lightly while the other girl smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Buffy, I'll make it up to you. Cookies later?"

The grin she got in return was enough of an answer, "I'll pick up the stuff for them later!" she yelled after Buffy as the door closed. Willow and Dawn peered out the window watching the other girl fumble with her things and open the door to her jeep. They listened to the engine turn over and winced watching as Buffy backed out of the driveway too quickly, knocking over their trash can before speeding off.

Willow shook her head with a worried smile before turning towards Dawn.

"Ok, Dawnie, did you want to go somewhere for breakfast?"

Dawn smiled and nodded. When her mother died Willow stepped up to help Buffy as much as she could and in a way became a second sister as well as a surrogate mother to her in the time Willow stayed in the house with them. Willow was a major figure in her life growing up, along with Xander, both of them were always over at the Summers house, knowing that their parents either weren't home or didn't care where they were. Joyce's death hit them all hard and Dawn would always be grateful that Willow moved into the house with them.

Willow shrugged on a light corduroy jacket,deciding that her pants were fine for the public, and picked up her wallet and keys from the table. "Well, let's go, breakfast is on me. Where do you wanna eat?"

Dawn thought for a moment, "I don't know, we could go to the Espresso Pump? I'm not all that hungry really, muffins sound great. And delicious mochas!"

"Mochas are always of the good, alrighty then onwards towards caffeinated goodness!" The older girl winked and opened the door for Dawn, who giggled and curtsied before heading out the door into the sun.

* * *

The walk to the little cafe was uneventful but pleasant, it was a nice day, warm and sunny as typical for the area. The girls chatted about the weather and other casual things on the way, stopping occasionally to pet a dog or say hello to someone on the street before heading off again. Walking to the Espresso Pump was a trip everyone in their group was familiar with, ever since highschool the cafe was one of their two hang out spaces in town and the owner knew them well.

Willow glanced at Dawn while they walked into the shop, "Mocha and a chocolate chip muffin?"

Dawn grinned "You know me well, yes please! I'm gonna go grab us a table." She said walking off to a secluded corner while Willow got in line at the counter.

Looking around the small space Willow smiled softly. She had a lot of memories in this place. Her, Buffy and Xander sitting around a table laughing at one of Xander's stupid jokes. Listening to Buffy drag on about her boyfriends. The nervousness she felt when she came out to them junior year and the overwhelming show of support they showered her with afterwards. Doing homework. 'Well,' she laughed internally stepping up to the counter to place her order, 'I did homework while they complained about it.'

"Willow! So surprised to see you here." The man behind the counter teased good naturedly with a smirk. His aging face showed nothing but friendliness and his balding head was covered badly with a cap.

"Hey, Mark, surprised to see you behind the counter today." The copper haired girl was genuinely surprised to see him serving customers on a Saturday, "Don't you have some poor little highschool kids to do this for you?"

Mark laughed beginning to turn around, raising an eyebrow in question, Willow held up two fingers and Mark nodded getting to work on the mochas "Usually, but two are out of town and the other is sick so I get counter today." With a flourish the man set down two mochas on the counter, "Anything else for my best customer?"

"Um...yeah Dawn wants a chocolate chip muffin and I could really go for one of those chocolate croissants."

"Ok, two delicious breakfast snacks coming right up." He put the food in a small paper bag and set it on the counter "Comes to $11.50, missy."

Willow handed him a 20, "Keep the change, old man, save up for your retirement." Mark feigned offense, slapping a hand to his chest dramatically with a gasp. Willow burst out laughing, grabbing her purchases and heading towards the back of the shop towards Dawn. "I'll talk to you later, Mark!"

Dawn perked up immediately when her coffee was set in front of her "Oh yes, come to momma you sweet, sugary, caffeinated god." Willow's eyebrows shot up to her hairline at the moan the highschooler let out at her first sip.

"You're a little too into that mocha there, Dawnie…"

There was a blush and a shrug in response "It's really good." she muttered into her drink, setting her sights on the brown paper bag. "Muffin please!"

Willow giggled lightly at her young friend, pulling her croissant out of the bag and sliding the muffin across the table. "Have at it, you crazy kid."

The girl's hand paused halfway in the bag, "I'm not a kid." She said pouting, grabbing the muffin and taking a big bite. "I'm 17 now."

Eying the crumbs that spewed out of Dawn's mouth Willow laughed "No Dawn, not a kid, just horrible manners." Dawn blushed again, grumbling slightly and brushing the crumbs off the table. She took another sip of her drink before raising her gaze to look her friend in the eyes.

Catching the serious glint in the younger Summers' girl's eyes, Willow sighed. "I know what you're going to ask, Dawnie, and I'm fine."

"Are you though? You haven't done anything but work on your homework and codes since Kennedy broke up with you a month and a half ago. Even you aren't that focused on work, we all used to go out at least once a week you know."

Willow took a pensive sip of her coffee, it was true, after the break up she fell back on her strengths. She wasn't going to lie, no matter how mutual the break up was, it still hurt and the way she dealt with hurt was by doing things she was good at. That's all it was, she nodded to herself, she wanted to do things she enjoyed and it felt good to do things well. She refused to acknowledge the small voice in the back of her head telling her she was just too scared to meet another girl and have another relationship implode.

Dawn waited for Willow to say anything, she studied the older girl's face as she thought and sighed. Realizing she wasn't going to get a response she pulled out a flyer from her pocket, smoothing out the creases and wrinkles she pushed the sheet across the table for Willow to look at. She looked curiously at the paper, picking it up to read.

"I found this here while you were getting our stuff. Giles is having an open mic contest at The Lounge tonight, I think we should all go. It'll be fun! You, me, Buffy, Xander all out on the town! Anya will be there of course, like she takes a day off...I'm surprised she's going along with this prize to be honest." Dawn put on her winningest smile and pleaded "Please, Willow? We miss hanging out with you."

The red-head knew she wasn't going to be able to argue with that smile. Chuckling to herself she replied, "You know I can't resist that look. Alright, let's go. It'll be fun right? I mean you were right before, I stopped hanging out with you guys and that wasn't fair of me, but you know how I get sometimes." She smiled wistfully at the brown haired girl across from her and shook herself out of her thoughts. "Are you done? We should head back, I have some code to work on and a security system to run through it's paces for a client if we're going to go out tonight." She winked and Dawn squealed and hugged her, trying her best to jump up and down at the same time.

"Yes! This is going to be great I'm so excited! I've never been to an open mic night, I hope some of them are decent at least. Though having them be bad could be just as entertaining." She trailed off thoughtfully still clinging an amused Willow.

"Dawn that's mean." She told her with barely concealed laughter. "Now get off me and get your trash I really need to get back and finish some stuff before tonight, ok?"

As they left, talking and laughing about the night they had planned, the blonde girl from across the room walked hesitantly towards their vacant table. She grabbed the flyer and read it over, humming in thought, tapping her fingers nervously against the page. Nodding to herself she folded the paper neatly, placed it in her pocket and left.

* * *

The Lounge was packed. In all the time Giles had owned the space the gang had never seen this many people. In the beginning, the older British man was their school librarian, he had the unique position of being the only faculty member to listen to their complaints about the school. He'd tried to help them as much as he could with what he could in his time there. He was eventually fired for reasons he refused to disclose to the ragtag group that had adopted him as a sort of father figure.

Soon afterwards he found this space for sale, it was decently sized and fairly cheap and with a little coaxing from the teens and Buffy's mother he bought it. The fix up went smoothly, there was already a bar that, while a little beat up, was perfectly safe and functional. Xander helped Giles build a stage for the large open space, sparking his interest in carpentry, which they put near the back so they could place the couches and table and chairs that had been ordered for the space.

The work that went into the little club was obvious. It was classy, but warm and inviting, deep reds and browns permeated the area and accents of black helped ground the space. After a few years The Lounge had made a bit of a name for itself, it garnered enough attention to earn Giles a decent living and now with Anya helming the marketing and finances it seemed to be doing even better.

"Wow…"

"Wow indeed."

The group grinned in unison at the accented voice they heard behind them. "Giles! This place is packed!"

"Yes, it's quite a sight isn't it?" Rupert removed his glasses and gave them a quick rub down with a cloth, "I believe it's your girlfriend I have to thank for this influx, Xander, she's quite ingenious when it comes to income."

Xander puffed out his chest in pride, "That's my, Ahn, money handling genius!"

The girls giggled at him a little before turning to Giles, "So the prize money was Anya's idea?"

"It was, I was just as surprised she was willing to give up money but I obviously underestimated her ability to draw a crowd. With the amount of people here we'll easily double our profit despite paying out the prize to the winner."

"Seriously? That's insane, Giles! Holy crap."

"Hey don't doubt my girl."

"There was no doubting, Xander, just good natured disbelief."

"They made me stamp my hand…"

The adults swiveled to look at their youngest member and laughed at the pout on her face.

"Sorry Dawn, no alcohol for you tonight." Xander tapped her lightly on the shoulder with his fist and grinned.

"Speaking of alcohol, Faith is working the bar tonight, we should go say hi and get some drinks, yeah?" Buffy said starting towards the bar.

"Faith! Hey!"

The dark haired girl looked up, startled, from the drink she was pouring, "Oh, hey, B. Red, Xan, Brat." Dawn scowled at the nickname, but brightened almost immediately when Faith laughed and tossed her a Coke from behind the counter.

"So, the usuals?" A round of nods and Faith pulled out three glasses and some bottles and got to work. She was always a bit of a show off, especially around Buffy, and she couldn't resist a bit of showmanship in her mixing. The practiced way she flipped bottles drew a bit of a crowd to watch her work her magic. A couple of shakes and pours and their drinks were finished.

"There you go guys, enjoy." She winked and started to turn around to serve another customer but Buffy stopped her.

"Faith where's my cherry."

The younger girl blinked. "Oops. My bad, B. One sec stay right there." She rummaged around in front of her, grabbing a cherry and backing up a few paces and tossing right into the glass. "Oh yeah! Two points!"

Buffy shook her head at her excitable friend but grinned despite herself, "You're ridiculous, Faith. Thanks, we're gonna go get a seat before they're all taken. See you later!" Faith waved, soon getting distracted by another patron.

The gang found a miraculously empty couch in a good spot and sat down talking amongst themselves quietly and laughing. Willow took the time to soak in the atmosphere, looking around at her friends with a smile. 'I don't know why I decided that not going out with them was the best idea.' Feeling better than she had since the break up, she took sips of her drink and laughed at Xander's stories.

She leaned over to Dawn, "Thank you for doing this." She whispered in her ear.

Dawn smiled and gave her a hug, "You're always looking after me, it's only fair I look after you sometimes." Willow returned the hug and was about to respond when they heard Anya's voice from the stage.

"Hello! I'm glad to see my ideas are just as wonderful as I knew they were. Welcome to The Lounge's first open mic contest! The winner will get 150 of our hard earned dollars as a prize and you, the customer, get the rejoice in their success or failures. Please relax, buy alcohol and food from our kitchen. Enjoy the show and please return with more money!" The patrons laughed, albeit a little uncomfortably, at the woman's enthusiasm, watching her happily take her leave of the stage.

"Oh, Anya…" Xander shook his head lightly, smiling after his girlfriend. "She's a special one…"

* * *

There were 20 participants in the contest in all, accompanied by the house band (students from the college, mostly paid in free booze), and all of them were entertaining in their own way. Some were amazing and engaging with powerful voices and personalities, some were less than talented but were good natured about some of the laughter that accompanied their singing, and still others that fell in places in between.

Willow was increasingly glad she had come out with her friends, the live singing was fun, she was a little buzzed and she had forgotten how good the food at The Lounge was. She smiled and leaned back into the plush red couch, swinging an arm over Buffy's shoulders.

"We should go out more, Buff, this is fun! I hope they do these contests more too." She swung out the arm not over Buffy's shoulders in an over enthusiastic gesture to the whole club, "I mean, it's so nice and happy in here and the music is nice and even when it's not it's funny right? And it's Giles' place we shou-"

Buffy and Dawn looked at Willow curiously, wondering why she trailed off in the middle of her sentence, only to find her gaze locked onto the stage. The sisters glanced at each other, then turned their eyes to whatever it was their best friend was looking at. Though they weren't sure what they were going to find, neither of them really expected the stunning blonde they found.

Willow was transfixed, green eyes taking in the sight of the stranger standing timidly on the stage in front of them. She didn't even know this girl, but here she was staring in awe at her. The blonde seemed to be about her age, but in a way seemed much older, she carried herself with a subtle grace that was halfway hidden by her shyness. Willow trailed her eyes over the woman, noting how she seemed to be trying her hardest hide behind her dark blonde hair as she stepped up to the mic, the black dress she wore clinging to her curves and pulling against her as she took her steps.

The girl swallowed nervously, and finally opened her eyes. Willow swallowed a gasp, "Wow…" she breathed out, not even conscious she spoke aloud, her eyes still glued to the woman on stage while her friends looked at her with small smiles.

"H-h-hi, everyb-b-b-ody." The poor girl cringed slightly, blushing at her stutter and nervousness. A couple people snickered at her stutter, making her draw back into herself a little, hiding farther behind her hair, "I guess I'm sup-p-posed to introduce m-myself. I'm T-tara."

Willow smiled, mouthing the name to herself. 'This girl is adorable,' she thought 'Gorgeous and adorable.'

Tara took a deep breath, steeling herself and with a determined look passing over her still blushing face she nodded at the band. Gripping the mic loosely with one hand and trailing the other down the stand, she let the music wash over her and any trace of nervousness vanished. The change in her was palpable, the quiet conversations in the room went silent, looking at the newly confident woman standing in front of them. Her eyes closed to keep herself centered, blocking out the faces of the people around her and focusing on what she knew she was good at.

Starting soft and breathy, the voice that came from the blonde was nonetheless obviously powerful. She moved slightly with the music, getting comfortable on the stage and in the song, her voice effortlessly changing pitch and tone. Mesmerized, the audience, a slight green eyed woman in particular, sat transfixed in awe of what they were seeing.

_Old flame, you're still the one that holds me_

_Can't you feel it burning?_

_Can't you feel it burning still?_

The strength the nervous girl brought into the chorus of the song was striking. No one could really believe the girl that looked like she was about to bolt the stage was the same one. Willow watched amazed at the expressions flitting across Tara's face as she sang, her mouth wouldn't close, not that she even noticed it was open in the first place.

Tara pressed herself lightly against the microphone stand, completely lost in her song.

_I flicker and sway_

_Still dancing on the aftertaste_

_I remember gold days_

_Wrapped up in the warmth we made_

Willow watched the blonde grip the stand, her body moving fluidly in time with the beat, obviously completely unaware of the stunned stares on her. The singer's tenuous grasp around the thin stand tightened, her expression hardening slightly as she readied herself to belt out the next lyrics.

_Smoke skies, colors and cloud nines_

_Circles and straight lines and drowned eyes_

_From such heights, I fell into Fahrenheit_

_And time only fuels the desire._

While everyone else was keeping both eyes on the blonde singing her heart out on stage Willow's friends kept one eye on the obviously smitten girl. In all the time they'd known her they had never seen the look she had in her eye until now, complete and utter amazement was reflected through her green irises. It was like she was witnessing something magical.

A collective hush went over the audience as the music stopped. Tara let out a shuddering breath, her eyes still closed, seemingly waiting for some sort of reaction. After a second had gone by with no such reaction Dawn rolled her eyes and let out a loud whoop of appreciation, clapping, prompting everyone else to do the same. Startled by the sudden influx of applause Tara jumped slightly, popping her eyes open, blush darkening her cheeks and landing her gaze right into Willow's eyes.

The accidental connection sent a shock through her, she couldn't blink, she couldn't look away from those blue eyes and it seemed that Tara was having the same problem. She could only manage one breathy whisper,

"Wow…"

* * *

Alright this was really hard writing is hard idk why i'm doing this. I'm going to try to update at least once a week. and I'll try to keep the lyrics to a minimum unless people would like me to put all of the lyrics in the story but i don't think that's really in demand i was too lazy to read through this so it probably is more terrible than it needed to be. my bad

Song was Old Flame by Kimbra (there will probably be a lot of Kimbra's music because that song was the one that inspired the story and i listen to a lot of her stuff while i'm writing. I'll try to mix it up as much as possible though I don't want to be that person lol) Anyway plz bug me for updates or else i won't do it probably.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes:** i am literally the worst person it's been like a month i deserve some sort of punishment here man. Ridiculous. I'm so horrible.

Anyway, I'm out of state visiting my girlfriend, for about 3 weeks, i might actually get more writing done while i'm here because she has work and class and stuff. I was planning on getting this chapter done and posted before i left buuuut. that didn't happen. My total bad. I wrote a good chunk on the bus and finished it just now while my girl is in class

Once again, tips and whatnot, very appreciated. Sorry for how late this chapter is, but I warned you about that dawg, i told you. Thanks for every review,follow,fave and view :).

* * *

Tara was still reeling slightly from her performance and the electricity that pulsed through her when she locked eyes with the woman across the room.

Sitting down heavily in the back room, she listened vaguely to Anya telling the crowd to vote for a winner, and thought about green eyes that seemed to pierce her to her core.

'She was the girl at the Espresso Pump today.' The blonde rubbed the back of her neck thoughtfully. 'Lucky for me, I wouldn't have found out about this without her.'

The murmuring of the patrons slowly faded as their votes were passed in. Tara could hear footsteps, probably Anya's, heading towards the mic on stage. There was no announcement, the owner of the footsteps hovering at the stand until the the votes were tabulated, the murmuring resumed and Tara clenched her fists on her knees, her nerves getting the best of her.

A loud screech from the speakers caused Tara to jump, her heart rate skyrocketing. The girl breathed deep trying to control her flight response, the sounds of the angry crowd permeating her senses.

"The votes are being counted!" Anya's voice was heard, seemingly unapologetic about the feedback screech, "While we wait I will entertain you with a joke!"

Tara chuckled lightly, in the scant few hours she'd been around Anya she already found her demeanor amusing. A little odd, but amusing.

Her thoughts soon turned to the outcome of the contest, sticking the nail of her thumb between her teeth Tara mused, 'I hope I win...I need the money.'

The murmurs from the crowd gradually got louder, escalating into full speaking voices, the sound carrying farther and drowning out Anya's attempt at humor.

"Be quiet, you'll miss the humorous conclusion."

The rebuff wasn't angry, it was matter of fact and slightly distracted, and it was effective. The crowd went mostly silent and Anya continued her joke in peace. Unfortunately for Tara, she did miss the humorous conclusion. Gnawing lightly on her thumbnail and waiting for the results, she sat alone in the back with the knowledge she was one of the best.

'Come on, Tara,' she berated herself internally, 'you're not that good, you could fail miserably right now, don't get a big head.'

Raucous laughter interrupted her thoughts. She smiled, happy that the oddly literal blonde girl had received a good response. Despite only having just met her, Tara felt a strange comradery for Anya. She was quirky. Awkward at times, but nonetheless obviously a good person.

A couple of thump sounds reverberated through the speakers, along with the sound of a throat clearing.

"The results are in!"

Tara's hands clenched in her dress and her heart pounded wildly. The crowd cheered, most of them obviously drunk, but their energy was endearing.

"Who wants to know who won?"

More cheers and clapping.

"This is exciting! I've never announced the winner of a contest before."

The drunk people cheered and the less inebriated folks looked at each other confused, clapping half heartedly.

"I've never even judged a contest before, which is ridiculous really, because I have great taste and everyone should want me on their panels."

Tara suppressed a giggle at the girl's antics, her nerves lifting slightly at the woman's unintentional humor. Unfortunately,the rest of the crowd wasn't quite as entertained as the young singer and were starting to grow restless.

"Ahn, honey," Tara heard a young man's voice call out, "I think we'd just like to know who won."

Anya scoffed, "Fine Xander, I better be getting multiple satisfactory orgasms for this."

Snickering was the only thing that filled the space for the next few seconds. Tara herself was blushing slightly, but had to admire the other woman's straightforward attitude. And while she silently thought they could be interesting friends, Anya cleared her throat into the mic.

"And the winner of our beautiful money is….Tara Maclay!"

Tara gaped silently, body stiff and unmoving. She won? She won! How could that have happened? Surely there were better performers than her here.

'You always think this stuff when you win, Tara.' The blue eyed girl thought to herself, shakily standing up, smiling nervously at the other singers who were patting her on the back, 'Maybe you should stop being so surprised huh.'

Legs still shaky, Tara walked her way onto the stage amidst whistling and cheers. Her face was red but she was smiling as she came to a stop next to Anya, who threw an arm around her shoulders and shoved an envelope of money into her hands.

"Congratulations Tara! The people have spoken and they've chosen you. The Democracy at work! Be proud!"

Tara giggled at the enthusiastic girl. Her eyes unconsciously scanned the crowd before landing squarely on shocking emerald eyes once again.

~.~.~

That giggle froze Willow to her seat.

She had thought that her voice had struck her, but that simple little laugh was just as mesmerizing.

Either ignoring the looks and chuckles of her friends or not realizing they were happening, Willow kept her gaze squarely on the beautiful woman standing on the stage. With a stupid, goofy smile plastered to her face, Willow watched silently as Tara's eyes swept through the crowd.

Willow shivered when their eyes made contact. The feeling she got from this shy, young woman was like nothing she had felt before. To be honest the thought scared her a little. She didn't know this girl. But she desperately wanted to.

"I uh"

Willow jumped slightly, not expecting to hear Tara's voice. She berated herself slightly in her head. 'She just won a prize, idiot, of course she's gonna say something.'

Keeping eye contact with the blonde, Willow sent her an encouraging smile and a subtle thumbs up, hoping to decrease her obvious nerves. The slow, lopsided smile and small blush she got in thanks made her heart skip.

"T-t-thank you guys s-so much. I really d-don't know what to say." Tara's eyes finally dragged themselves away from Willow's to look at everyone else. Her hair fell over her face again and Willow felt the loss right away. Hands itching to brush the hair from her face, Willow hoped to see those eyes again.

As if sensing the red-head's need, Tara's eyes slowly traveled back to her. Blue locking against green again and crinkling at the corners in a smile, not moving from their place as she began talking again.

"I-I'm really g-grateful and I h-had a lot of fun. I h-hope you guys d-do this again, could be f-fun to come back."

The Lounge cheered and clapped, liking the idea of another contest. Especially, a contest that had this sweet, shy, talented young woman. Whether she realized it or not, Tara had stolen the hearts of the patrons.

No one cheered louder than Willow at the prospect of seeing the enigmatic girl again. The way she looked directly at her made the green eyed girl think she wanted to see her again, not just the crowd or The Lounge.

"You can't have anymore of our money though." Anya piped up. Willow's eyes widened and she sent a glare at her friend but the sound of that musical laugh stopped her in her tracks.

"Alright, Anya, I won't take any of your money unless y-you offer."

Anya grinned and slapped Tara on the back, causing her to stumble slightly "I like you Tara, you're good people. Now you have to get off the stage though."

Tara cast another look at Willow before smiling at everyone and thanking them again. As she walked off Willow wondered if she would, in fact, ever see this woman again.

~.~.~

Buffy, Dawn, and Xander exchanged glances around the kitchen table. They were having dinner together, along with Willow, at the Summers house in an attempt to get Willow out of her funk. The woman in question picked idly at her phone, a wistful expression on her face.

It had been a week since that night at The Lounge and Willow had still not recovered from that encounter. If you could even call it an encounter.

At first the gang made fun of her for it. Their little Willow, so starstruck. It was cute and not something they were used to seeing so they took the presented opportunity to tease. The only person in the group who refrained from teasing was Anya, who told the pale red-head she had good taste in women. Anya had taken a shine to Tara in the few minutes they interacted and hoped to see more of her, just as she was sure Willow wanted to.

Of course Anya wanted to see her with far less lesbian intentions.

"Willow?"

Startled, Willow's head shot up, fork nearly falling from her hand.

She huffed out a relieved breath, "Yeah Buff?"

"Are you alright?"

Willow's mouth dropped open, "Of course I am, Buff, why would you even ask that?"

All three of her best friends gave her a look and she smiled sheepishly, picking at her food.

"You mean besides pining after an, admittedly hot, woman, who you don't know beyond her name, to the point where you barely eat and blow off your friends?"

Willow glared, "Don't talk about her like that, and I have eaten just fine. And maybe I have been blowing you guys off a little, but it wasn't because of my 'pining' I've had homework and clients to take care of you know that."

Xander put his hands up in surrender, "Ok ok, but this isn't really healthy, Will. You can deny the pining all you want but it doesn't mean it's not happening."

"You guys it's only been a week, I don't think that qualifies as an unhealthy amount of time."

"I guess we just don't really...understand? You've never been like this over someone ever, Will, let alone someone you just met."

Willow sighed, "What do you want to know, Buffy?" She ran a hand through her hair passively. "I've never, ever felt like this about someone before."

More glances.

"And yeah, I have no idea who she is. I know her name, I know she sings, I know she's gorgeous, but I don't know anything else about her. And it's weird for me. I feel all these things for someone I've never met."

Her friends nodded sympathetically, patting her hand to ask her to continue. Dawn observed the happenings critically, unnoticed by the other three, musing quietly.

"This is all very confusing for me." Willow pouted, her eyes going glassy for a second and then a brilliant smile spread across her face catching her friends off guard.

"She's so beautiful. Magnificent even. And she sings so beautifully. Her smile is adorable and even her laugh is melodic. I can tell she has a great sense of humor, and her eyes are just...wow…"

She trailed off, eyes widening, blush making a slow crawl up her neck into her face as she realized she went off on a tangent in front of her friends, who looked surprised but were smiling at her.

"Look at that blush, Buffy, it's in her ears! She must be really embarrassed right now, poor Willow." Xander stuck his tongue out at the small red-head.

Willow fidgeted with her hands in her lap, looking at her fingers instead of her friends, "I don't know what it is...but I feel like I already know her. Like we're meant to know each other...you know?"

The mumbled voice of their friend put an end to their light teasing. Their looks softened and Willow and Xander wrapped Willow up in a hug, not knowing what to say. Even though it was strange to say the least, it was obvious that her feelings were strong and she needed some comfort.

The only one not in on the group hug was Dawn, she nodded to herself and piped up from where she was sitting at the table.

"Well, if you like her so damn much, maybe we should go find her huh?"

Willow's head shot up and she looked at Dawn with a questioning expression.

"Really?"

"Really."

Pulling out of the embrace Willow dragged Dawn into a hug of her own.

"Thank you, Dawnie, it means a lot that you'd help me."

"We all just want you to be happy, Will. We'll help you find your girl no matter what."

"She's not my girl you guys I don't even know her. She's amazing and beautiful but I really just want to get to know her. She's probably not even gay."

"No way, the Willster is irresistible!"

"Thanks, Xand."

~.~.~

The gang looked high and low over Sunnydale for the next week.

Unfortunately, their success rate was abysmal. Somehow this woman was unfindable. They checked back at The Lounge, they checked cafes and libraries. They even checked the little magic shop in town. No sign of her.

Willow was beginning to give up hope and her despondent attitude was starting to worry her friends. After each failed attempt to find Tara she got more sullen.

Finally, Dawn, Buffy, and Xander decided together that they were going to drag Willow to The Bronze tonight for dancing. They didn't know if it would help a lot, but trying to get her to have fun was top priority. The only obstacle was to actually get her to agree to go and it was proving to be difficult.

"Willow, come on, please come with? I know you don't have any clients tonight and you already did all your homework. You have no excuses, come out with us."

"Why do I need an excuse? I don't feel like going out tonight."

"You're coming with us. All you're going to do is mope around like a sack of sad and you need to have some fun."

Willow didn't budge, she folded her arms and pouted, turning her head away from her friends.

"Willow! You're coming with. Don't make me get Faith in here, me and her are strong enough to drag you there ourselves."

Recognizing that this threat was more like a promise, Willow sighed and stood up.

"Fine, I'll go. I have to go get some books from the library first before it closes and I want to eat dinner before we go so we don't blow it all on overpriced food ok?"

The gang high fived each other, celebrating their victory. "We'll leave around 9 then?"

Willow gave them a nod and walked out the door.

A few hours ,and a delicious chicken dinner, later the group walked through the doors, not noticing the sign for the singing contest. The Bronze was packed and hard to maneuver through. Everyone was excited and drunk, even moreso than usual.

Willow was very unhappy about this turn of events. She had no idea why it was so crowded tonight but she didn't like it. All she had wanted to do was watch tv and mope tonight but no, her friends had to care about her. Ugh, friends.

The pale red-head was pulled out of her pouting by an enthusiastic man's voice over the speakers.

"Alright, folks! Let's have a big round of applause for our next contestant! Tara Maclay!"

Everyone in the gang looked up in surprise as the girl they'd been looking for materialized on the stage. Willow's mouth spread into a huge grin, bouncing on the tips of her toes in glee. She caught Tara's eye while she stood in front of the mic, blue eyes filled with surprise at her presence and...happiness?

Keeping contact with green, Tara leaned over to speak into the mic

"Hi."

* * *

_I'M SORRY THIS IS SO SHORT I'M STARTING WORK ON CHAPTER 3 RIGHT NOW SRSLY. I'LL GET IT DONE SOONER THIS TIME I'M REALLY SORRY ABOUT HOW SHORT IT IS_


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